“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."   ~Hebrews 4:14-15

Temptation can be defined as being induced to do evil. However, temptation in itself is not sin. So then, how exactly can we keep from being tempted to fall into sin? To answer this question, we will need to take a much deeper look into this problem.

​Jesus was tempted just like we are, but He did not sin. Whenever Satan tried to tempt Him, He would speak the living word of God out loud—the greatest weapon to wield against the enemy—the sword of God! 

​So why don’t we run to God with everything like Jesus did? Why do we even try to do things on our own? Pride! Pride is what causes us to think we can handle our lives without any help from God. Pride is the chief doctrine of the devil.

“The Lord will destroy the house of the proud…”   ~Proverbs 15:25

Pride is a lack of humility, and it is in this self-centered act that we become unwilling to heed to God. In this prideful state, we think we can handle everything on our own. We stand straight up, shoulders back, head held high, ready to solve whatever problem is at hand. This is when we are in a state of self-willed pride, and this is also when Satan will lead us to sin. It is in this mindset that we are easily knocked down and overcome by the enemy.

However, if we kneel down and surrender to God in this position of humility and submission, it’s nearly impossible for us to fall. Compare the spiritual relevance to our physical condition; you can’t be knocked down if you’re already on your knees! And there it is, the biblical principle better known as spiritual gravity. Do you want high gravity, trying to achieve things on your own or do you want low gravity, humbly taking everything to the Lord?

“…God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”   ~1 Peter 5:5

What did Jesus do every time He was under siege? He walked away and took everything to His Father in prayer. He never got prideful. He never fought His own battles. Nope, He walked away and went to pray. In fact, 1 out of every 140 words that He spoke, Jesus was speaking about His Father. His central message and purpose was to restore us to a relationship with our heavenly Father.

​We must learn to surrender to God before making any decisions because on our own we will always decide wrong! Why do we insist on doing things on our own when we know we usually fail? There are some very powerful forces that pull us away from a state of surrender and into the mindset of pride. They are, Satan, the worldly system all around us, and our own fallen self-centered, weak human flesh.

“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”   ~Matthew 26:41

Temptation itself isn’t the sin, but acting on it is. Remember, even Jesus was tempted by Satan. Temptation begins in the mind, it is conceived through our thoughts. When Satan tempts us, he tries to corrupt our thoughts by trying to convince us that we deserve better—a better spouse, a better job, a better whatever—then he baits us with his promises and gives us a list of wrong ways to achieve these things. Once we start to agree with him, we have chosen to go in the wrong direction, and this is when we fall into sin.

So, why, if we are willingly choosing to listen to the devil, is sin referred to as falling? The simple truth is we never really just fall into sin, nope, we choose to walk right into it by our freewill choices. At any time we can choose again—we can turn around and run to God instead of agreeing with the devil. Anytime we decide to repent; God will forgive us and welcome us back with open arms, all we have to do is ask.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”   ~1 John 1:9

So often we feel like evil is winning the battle. When we are wronged, we get tempted to retaliate and seek out revenge, and before we know it we are pursuing the pursuer—we are engaging in battle with our enemy. In this very act of retaliation, we are caught in Satan’s trap; we are listening to him rather than going to God in prayer. The truth is, evil never wins, it just tricks us into believing it does.

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”   ~James 4:7

​“Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.”   ~Proverbs 30:5

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